CNR Arctic Station “Dirigibile Italia”

The station is located in Ny-Ålesund, on the shores of Kongs­fjorden, on the west coast of Spitzbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Ny-Ålesund was a mining village until 1963. During the 1990’s it transformed into a multidisciplinary science settlement, and today stations from 10 different nations host researchers from up to 20 different countries. The area around the village is geographically diverse, including the fjord with several islands, a plateau, alluvial plains, mountains with large glaciers and extensive moraine systems, glacial rivers, coastal lagoons, and a small lake. The area further includes ornithological reserves and a nature reserve with regulated access.

The Station was established in 1997. It provides accommodation for seven persons in single and double rooms. Also, laboratories with basic equipment are available at the station. A 32 m high ‘Admundsen-Nobile Climate Change Tower’ belongs to the station, and is equipped with instruments investigating energy budget and flux exchanges at the atmosphere-land interface. In addition, the ‘Gruvebadet Laboratory’ for sampling aerial pollutants and particles is part of the station’s facilities. The station has a membership in the Ny-Ålesund Marine Laboratory consortium, an experimental laboratory for research in marine ecology, physiology, and biochemistry.

Ny-Ålesund enjoys the mildest climate at this latitude due to a distant branch of the Gulf Stream bordering the west coast of Spitzbergen. The fauna is dominated by a large variety of birds, including arctic terns, auks, kittiwakes, gulls, barnacle geese, northern fulmars, Svalbard ptarmigans, and Arctic skuas. Mammals include Svalbard reindeer, arctic foxes, and a sporadic presence of polar bears, also seals and less frequently whales, are spotted in the fjord. The permafrost is continuous and 75-450 m thick, and the active layer thickness ranges between 0.3 and 3.8 m. The whole area lies within the Dryas octopetala zone of the high-arctic fell-field vegetation.

11 permanent stations are established in Ny-Ålesund by 10 different countries and the entire settlement is owned and operated by the Norwegian State owned company King’s Bay AS. Researchers from many countries regularly come to Ny-Ålesund to work. King’s Bay AS provides and manages all necessary infrastructures and services in the community including meals, maintenance of buildings and roads, post office, local shop, airport, and harbour. Research is coordinated by the Ny-Ålesund Science Managers Committee (NySMAC) and the Svalbard Science Forum (SSF).

Regular flights between Ny-Ålesund and Longyearbyen take place four times per week in summer and twice per week in winter. There is an international airport in Longyearbyen with scheduled connections to mainland Norway. Ny-Ålesund can be reached also by boat. Sailing in the fjord is possible for people at the station through agreements with the Sverdrup Station of the Norwegian Polar Institute and with King’s Bay AS. In winter and spring snowmobiles are available for field trips. In summer, hiking is the only mean of transport in the field outside the village.